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I am relatively new to the equestrian world and am struggling to understand the mindset behind behavioral therapy of difficult horses who clearly show signs of not wanting to work. I see posts and videos of horses where the owner describes how weak the horse is physically due to being mistreated before and how it has behavioral issues, there are videos of this horse looking clearly uncomfortable under the saddle and just kind of thrashing about while ridden.
Whatâs the point of bringing these horses into work if they seem to be literally âscreamingâ to be left alone?
Like, wouldnât it be better to just put that horse into the field somewhere and let them enjoy life? I know it costs money to keep them like this, but all the therapy, re-schooling and getting all those professionals involved is probably even more costly? Does it all come down to people just wanting gratification for money they paid for the horse or perhaps thinking that being ridden is the best thing for a horse? It all seems absurd to me but maybe I am missing something.
Horses can be brought back around, just like people can. Horses for courses as they say; sometimes it stems from bad handling, sometimes bad training, sometimes pain, sometimes forcing a horse to do a job it doesnât like. Sometimes something as simple as a new owner with a different climate, gear, style or vibe fixes the problem.
But as you noted, horses are so expensive and people arenât charities. Even the places that take donations to keep âunwantedâ horses struggle to keep up â itâs just not viable in a lot of situations to keep an expensive animal who canât, or wonât, work for you.
Itâs one thing to retire something thatâs given you a lot over the years, that should be a given, but itâs a whole ânother to accept the responsibility to keep a sour, unhappy, dangerous or generally complicated horse around.
In almost every other animal husbandry area we accept that there are animals that are unviable to keep around⌠horses are particularly emotional, thus tricky.
âThe kindest thing you can do for a horse is to give them a good education.â
The reason you see a lot of those is because people seek them out to make a video that gains a lot of attraction/attention. Itâs for social media clout more than a reflection of the state of the total horse industry.
I never said thereâs none, I said horses are a luxury animals and what youâre describing in most 1st world countries is uncommon. When pound prices are high, and feed prices are high, people donât keep crappy animals around â look at the beef industry. Horses tend to go to market and those people make their $2 / lb and thatâs that. If people have their own place and grass and âworthlessâ horses, they can make a few grand on renting that land to cattle (or boarders) instead. There is nothing to gain neglecting valuable creatures. Here in Alberta, where slaughter rates have dropped away, and feed prices are sky high, you frequently see people dropping them off in the mountains â to the point we have had our trailers checked before and after leaving certain areas!
Of course there are exceptions, but what you are describing seeing through social media is a bid for clicks.
Where are you seeing so many instances of this? Frankly horses are worth big dollars right now, even pound price, and most people arenât leaving that on the table by actively neglecting them.
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What do you mean âbrought into work after years of abuseâ? Not really sure what circumstances youâre referring to.